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FACTS OF PORTO RICAN HISTORY 



FOR 



GRAMMAR SCHOOL PUPILS 



BY 

E. N. CLOPPER 



PRINCIPAL OF CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL OF PORTO RICO 

AND 

CENTRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL OF SAN JUAN 



SECOND EDITION 
1906 



UBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 

DEC 5 1906 

H Cwrlght Entry 
CLASS A XXd.No. 



COPYRIGHT 1906. 



t 



/ 



V 



HINDS, NOBLE & ELDREDGE 
PHILA. NEW YORK. 



LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL. 



CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL OF PORTO RICO 

AND 

CENTRAL GRAMMAR SCHOOL OF SAN JUAN 

OFFICE OF THE PRINCIPAL 

SAN JUAN. 



November 15, ipof. 
To the Honorable, 

The Commissioner of Education for Porto 
Rico, San Juan, Porto Rico. 
Sir : — I beg to submit herewith the manuscript of 
a condensed history of Porto Rico which I have pre- 
pared in the hope that it may be adopted for use in the 
Grammar Schools here. The history of the island has 
been neglected in the English schools because of the lack 
of a suitable English text-book on the subject, and this 
short history is the result of my efforts to supply this 
want. Should it meet with your approval, I trust that 
its publication may be ordered with a view to placing 
it in the Grammar Schools. 

Respectfully, 

E. N. CLOPPER, 

Principal. 
Approved for Publication : 
E. W. LORD, 

Acting Commissioner of Education. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER. PAGE. 



I. Discovery, Settlements, Gold Mining, Indian Rebel- 
lion, Slavery 7 

3X Fortifications, Attacks by English, French and 

Dutch ; Cyclones 1 12 

III. Development, Contraband Trade, Military Govern- 
ment ...1 21 

IV. Effects of Spanish Wars, Struggle for Liberal Gov- 
ernment 28 

V. Slavery Question, Insurrections, Political Organiza- 
tion .», ., 39 

VI. Spanish-American War, New Sovereignty over 

Island ..n 47 



INTRODUCTION. 



This little book is intended for use in the Grammar 
Schools of Porto Rico and was designed to meet the 
needs of both teachers and pupils in the study of the 
island's history. In the preparation of the text, the 
necessity for simplicity of language and conciseness of 
expression was kept steadily in view. Only the essential 
facts in the history of the island have been presented 
and all comment upon the matters involved has been 
studiously avoided. The libraries of the island furnish 
material for a more extensive study of the subject, and 
the student may easily add to his knowledge of Porto 
Rico's history by consulting the several works available 
for reference. Chief among these works are Salvador 
Brau's Historia de Puerto Rico; R. A. Van Middeldyk's 
The History of Puerto Rico; General George W. Davis's 
report on The Military Government of Porto Rico (on 
page 222 of this report there is given a list of publi- 
cations bearing upon the history and government of 
the island) ; Los Diputados Americanos en las Cortes 
Espaitolas; Regimen del Gobierno y la Administracion 
Civil de la Isla de Puerto Rico; Coll y Toste's Resena 
Historica de Puerto Rico; Henry K. Carroll's Report 
on the Island of Porto Rico; and Thorpe's The Govern- 



ment of the People of Porto Rico. I wish to acknowl- 
edge my indebtedness to these books for a large part of 
the information contained in the following pages. The 
use by the teacher, of Salvador Bran's Historia de Puerto 
Rico is recommended in the preparation of lessons and 
for a more detailed presentation of the subject in the 
class-room. 

I trust that this little volume may serve to in- 
crease the interest of our pupils in the history of their 
native land and that it may render less arduous the task 
of the teachers in this particular branch of our public 
school work. In closing, I would tender my thanks to 
Mr. E. W. Lord, Assistant Commissioner of Education 
for Porto Rico; Mr. L. P. Ayres, Superintendent of 
Schools for the District of San Juan, and Mr. E. C. Her- 
nandez, Examining Superintendent, for their kindness in 
reading the manuscript and for many helpful suggestions 
in connection with the preparation of this book; to the 
courtesy of Don Manuel Fernandez Juncos of San Juan, 
I am indebted for the use of several volumes from his 
excellent library, and take advantage of this opportunity 
to make grateful acknowledgment of the favor. 

E. N. CLOPPER. 
San Juan, November, 1905. 



CHAPTER I. 

Discovery — Settlements — Gold Mining — Indian Rebellion — 

Slavery. 

i. Christopher Columbus, on his second voyage 
from Spain to the unknown West, discovered the island 
of Porto Rico November 16, 1493. Three days later 
he anchored his ships near the present site of Aguadilla, 
claimed the island for Spain and gave it the name of 
San Juan. The little Indian town on the shore was 
called Aguada. 

2. A Spaniard named Juan Ponce de Leon was 
with Columbus on his second voyage. He remained 
in Hispaniola (Santo Domingo), because Spain consid- 
ered this island the principal one of the archipelago and 
the governor of all the islands, Nicolas de Ovando, 
lived there. In 1508 Ponce de Leon visited Porto Rico, 
going to Aguada, and from there he went toward the 
east and discovered the harbor where the city of San 
Juan is now located. He called this harbor Puerto Rico. 
Then he went toward the south and discovered the harbor 
of Guanica. The Indians were kind to him and his com- 
panions, and showed them little grains of gold in the 
rivers. Then the Spaniards returned to Santo Domingo. 

3. Ponce de Leon wanted to get the gold in the 



rivers of Porto Rico, so in 1509 he came again and 
began to build a little village in the north, near the 
harbor he called Puerto Rico. This village was named 
Caparra. Among other Spaniards who came to Porto 
Rico from Santo Domingo, was Cristobal Sotomayor, to 
whom Ponce de Leon assigned the western part of the 
island, telling him to hunt the gold there. Sotomayor 
tried to build a village near the harbor of Guanica, but 
gave up the attempt and went to Aguada. 

4. In 1509 Diego Columbus, the son of Christo- 
pher Columbus, became governor of the West Indies. 
He lived in Santo Domingo. The Spaniards did not 
want to get the gold from the rivers themselves, so they 
made the Indians do the work. Governor Columbus 
ordered a distribution of the Indians, allowing each 
Spaniard a certain number of them and giving the most 
important men the largest number. So Ponce de Leon 
divided the Indians of Porto Rico among the Spaniards 
here, giving them from 50 to 100 each, and forced these 
poor people to get the gold in the rivers and cultivate the 
ground. 

5. At first the Indians were kind to the Spaniards, 
but when they found they had become slaves, they were 
angry. The white men were cruel to them, and finally 
in 151 1, the caciques or Indian chiefs, held a meeting 
and decided to kill all the Spaniards. They killed Soto- 
mayor and four of his companions, then attacked the 

8 



village of Aguada, murdered its eighty inhabitants and 
burned all the houses. When Ponce de Leon heard of 
this, he gathered the Spaniards together and marching 
to the place where the Indians had gone, he attacked 
them while they were sleeping and killed two hundred. 
Guaybana, the principal cacique of the island, then col- 
lected all his men and fought several battles with the 
Spaniards. The Indians had gathered near the place 
where Afiasco is to-day, and there Ponce de Leon and 
his companions defeated them, killing Guaybana. Then 
the Indians in the eastern part of the island, sheltered by 
the mountains of Luquillo, began to fight the Spaniards 
there and destroy their plantations. 

6. King Ferdinand of Spain appointed Ponce de 
Leon governor of Porto Rico, but Governor Columbus 
did not like him, and in 1509 sent Juan Ceron to take 
charge of affairs in the island. Ponce de Leon arrested 
Ceron upon his arrival here, and sent him to Spain. 
King Ferdinand confirmed the appointment of Ceron and 
ordered him to return to Porto Rico, which he did in 
151 1. Ponce de Leon left the island at once and the fol- 
lowing year went in search of gold and the fountain of 
perpetual youth which the Indians claimed could be found 
on the island of Bimini, not far away. On this voyage 
he discovered Florida and in 15 14 he went to Spain. 
Governor Columbus recalled Ceron in 15 13 and sent 
Rodrigo de Moscoso as his successor. The following 



year Moscoso was removed from office and Cristobal de 
Mendoza was appointed governor. In 15 14 Ponce de 
Leon was given jurisdiction over Porto Rico and the 
Windward Islands by King Ferdinand, and returned here 
the following year. 

7. As Aguada had been destroyed by the Indians, 
the Spaniards built another village near the shore, north 
of the present site of Mayagiiez,- and named it San 
German. The name of San Juan was also given to the 
village of Caparra. 

8. Alonso Manso was the first bishop of Porto 
Rico. He was also made General Inquisitor of the West 
Indies, and presided over a court established for the pur- 
pose of punishing the Spaniards if they were not loyal 
to the Catholic Church. 

9. The Indians in the eastern part of the island 
continued to attack the Spaniards, killing them and de- 
stroying their houses and plantations. The Spaniards 
defeated the Indians in Vieques and Luquillo and then 
the caciques declared peace. 

10. When Governor Nicolas de Ovando left the 
peninsula for Santo Domingo in 1502, some of his com- 
panions took with them a number of negro slaves whom 
they had purchased in Spain, and these were probably the 
first negroes in America. The number of negroes im- 
ported gradually increased in spite of the fact that the 
Spanish government had prohibited the traffic in the col- 
onies. io 



ii. The Dominican friars protested against the 
slavery of the Indians and Bartholomew de las Casas of 
Cuba, about 15 12, suggested that the Indians be given 
their freedom and that African slaves be imported to 
take their place as laborers. Negroes were brought here 
and sold to the planters who made them work in the 
fields and gold mines. Some of those that came from 
Santo Domingo caused an epidemic of small-pox in the 
island, as some of them had this terrible disease, and 
many deaths occurred in Porto Rico on this account, the 
Indians suffering most. In 1530 there were 1,500 negro 
slaves on the island. They were treated cruelly by the 
Spaniards, and marked with red-hot irons on their fore- 
heads and backs. 

12. While Ponce de Leon was in Spain, the king 
gave him permission to divide Porto Rico into two dis- 
tricts. This was done on his return, the dividing line 
crossing the island from the present site of Camuy to the 
southern shore near the present location of Ponce. The 
eastern division was called Puerto Rico and the western 
one San German. 

13. The location of the village of Caparra was not 
considered healthful, so the Spaniards transferred the 
town to the little island which shuts in the harbor in 
the north, and there founded the city of San Juan in 
1520. The following year Ponce de Leon left Porto 
Rico for Florida. Upon his arrival there the Indians 



II 



attacked his party and he was wounded. He died in 
Havana from the effects of his wound. 

14. The building known as Casa Blanca, in San 
Juan, was built in 1523 for Luis Ponce de Leon, the 
son of Juan Ponce de Leon. The Convent of Santo 
Domingo, now occupied by the Supreme Court, was built 
in 1523. Ten years later the church of San Jose was 
erected and in 1540 the Cathedral was built. The Con- 
vent of San Francisco, now used for school purposes, 
was erected in 1642. 

. '; 15. In 1542 through the efforts of the Dominican 
friars, the Indians were granted liberty by the king of 
Spain, but the bishop of Porto Rico could find only sixty 
of these unfortunate creatures on the entire island, for 
the Spanish planters were unwilling to release their slaves 
and concealed many of them on their farms; but these 
were gradually found and made free. 

16. From 1509 to 1539, $286,963 in gold was sent 
to Spain from the mines here. 



CHAPTER II. 



Fortifications — Attacks by English, French and Dutch — Cy- 
t clones. 

17. In 1 5 16 Ferdinand died and his grandson, 
Charles I (afterwards known as the Emperor Charles 
V), became king of Spain. The king of France was 
very jealous of the Spanish king and during the years 



12 



from 1 521 to 1544 these two great monarchs fought 
each other in four different wars. As Spain held so 
much land in America, the French decided to send a 
ship across the ocean to attack the Spanish possessions 
and in 1528 they landed at San German and burned that 
village. The Indians attacked the Spaniards again and 
destroyed many of their farms. These misfortunes, 
combined with three cyclones in 1530, reduced the peo- 
ple of the island to misery. 

18. In 1533 the Fortaleza, now the Governor's 
Palace, in San Juan, was built. It was the first forti- 
fication in the city and since 1639 nas been used as a 
residence for the governors of the island. As its posi- 
tion was not a commanding one, the construction of 
Morro Castle at the entrance to the harbor, was begun 

in 1539. 

19. In 1537 three more cyclones swept over the 
island and destroyed a great deal of property. In the 
following year the French again attacked the village of 
San German, the Spaniards having rebuilt it, and the 
houses were again burned. In 1543 the French made 
another attack upon the island and the village of San 
German was again destroyed. Then the Spaniards 
built the town on the southern coast, probably where 
Guayanilla is now located, in 1556. Then the Indians 
attacked it, killed several men and carried away thirty 
prisoners. General Bahamon de Lugo immediately or- 



13 



ganized an expedition against the Indians, and rush- 
ing upon them as they were preparing to attack the 
plantations of some Spaniards in the south, killed sev- 
enty-seven of them. The thirty Spanish prisoners were 
rescued from captivity. 

20. In 1556 Philip II, son of the Emperor Charles 
V, became king of Spain and continued his father's 
quarrel with France. So the French renewed their at- 
tacks upon the Spaniards in the West Indies, and in 
1569 they again burned San German. The . following 
year the village was rebuilt ten miles inland, on its pres- 
ent site. Here the French attacked the Spaniards in 
1576 but were defeated. 

21. Spain garrisoned Morro Castle and thus made 
Porto Rico a military station. As the island was un- 
able to support the soldiers, arrangements were made 
in 1586 to have the sum of 80,000 pesos sent every year 
from the Spanish treasury in Mexico, to pay the ex- 
pense of maintaining the garrison. This annuity fund 
was later increased in amount and for more than two 
centuries constituted the principal income of the island. 

22. Philip II of Spain wished to be king^of Eng- 
land also, and in 1588 sent a great armada or fleet of 
130 ships to take that country. But the Spaniards were 
defeated and England became mistress of the seas. Sir 
Francis Drake, who, ten years before, had sailed around 
the world, was one of the great English admirals who 



14 



took part in this famous sea fight. After the destruc- 
tion of the armada, several English ships came to the 
West Indies to capture Spanish treasure and on No- 
vember 22, 1595, a fleet of 24 English vessels under Sir 
Francis Drake attacked Porto Rico. Shortly before 
this date, a Spanish ship with two million pesos on board 
was on its way from Havana to Spain with the treasure, 
but suffered considerable damage in a storm and was 
obliged to enter San Juan harbor. The money was 
placed in the Fortaleza. Five other Spanish vessels 
came into the harbor and while they were there the 
English fleet arrived: At night 25 boat-loads of Eng- 
lish sailors and soldiers were sent to the shore to take 
the city and Morro Castle, but they were defeated and 
the fleet soon left. Sir Francis Drake died in 1597. 

23. In 1597 Lord George Cumberland left Eng- 
land for the West Indies in command of a fleet of 20 
vessels. He came to Porto Rico, and when near the 
shore where Santurce is now located, he sent a force of 
men to land. They attacked the Spaniards on San An- 
tonio bridge, defeated them, and when more English- 
men came ashore, marched to San Juan and captured 
the city. Morro Castle was besieged and soon surren- 
dered. Lord Cumberland wanted to make Porto Rico 
an English colony, but while he was on a march through 
the country, many of his soldiers became sick and died, 
so he sailed away, carrying with him the slaves of neigh- 



15 



boring plantations, the organ, bells, jewels and sacred 
vessels of the cathedral at San Juan and the cannon and 
stores at Morro Castle. He left a garrison of English 
soldiers to hold the city, but they followed him shortly 
after his departure. 

24. The Netherlands in Europe formed one of the 
possessions of Spain but the people of this low country, 
known as the Dutch, were treated so cruelly by the 
Spanish kings that they finally, in 1568, arose and began 
a long war for independence. Philip II died in 1598 
and was succeeded by his son Philip III, who continued 
this war. The Dutch were aided by the English and 
naval battles were fought in many different parts of the 
world. At last, in 1609, Spain was obliged to stop 
fighting and so the Dutch gained their liberty. In 1621 
Philip III died and his son Philip IV became king of 
Spain. By this time the Dutch West India Company, 
an association organized by merchants of the Nether- 
lands to trade with countries in America, had become 
very powerful and kept war vessels on the sea to pro- 
tect its commerce and destroy Spanish ships. In 1625 
this company sent a fleet of seventeen ships under Hen- 
drick Bowdoin, to the West Indies to attack the Span- 
ish possessions. At that time Juan de Haro was Cap- 
tain General of Porto Rico. The Dutch fleet entered 
San Juan harbor and captured the little fort called San 
Juan de la Cruz but commonly known as the Canaelo, 

16 



which had been constructed in 1610. General Haro or- 
dered all the women and children to go to the country, 
and then collected his forces in Morro Castle. The 
Dutch occupied the city and, placing artillery on the pa- 
rade grounds near Morro Castle, they bombarded the 
fort for four days. The Spaniards sallied from the fort, 
attacked the Dutch batteries and killed seventy men. 
The Dutch commander then sent a messenger to Morro 
Castle, ordering General Haro to surrender and stating 
that if he did not, he would burn San Juan. The Span- 
iards refused to surrender and the Dutch set fire to the 
city, destroying one hundred buildings. General Haro 
sent one of his captains by way of Palo Seco, to gather 
forces in the country and march to San Juan from the 
east by way of San Antonio bridge. This was done, 
and at the same time the Spaniards sallied from Morro 
Castle. In this way the Dutch were almost surrounded 
and they fled, going back to their ships in the harbor. 
The fleet sailed away, leaving one of the vessels stranded 
in the harbor. 

25. In 1626 the island was again visited by a cy- 
clone which destroyed a great deal of property. 

26. In 1635 Captain General Enrique Enriquez de 
Sotomayor drove the French and English from the 
islands of San Cristobal and Santa Cruz, and then, real- 
izing the lack of adequate fortifications in San Juan, he 
continued the construction of the wall around the city, 



17 



which had been begun in 1631. He also built the fort 
at the eastern end of the city and called it San Cristobal, 
the name of one of the islands which sheltered the 
enemy. Captain General Inigo de la Mota Sarmiento 
succeeded Enriquez and carried on the work of building 
the wall, until in 1639 it was completed along the side 
facing the bay, with the gates of San Juan, San Justo 
and Santiago. The gate of San Juan still exists at the 
foot of the Caleta de San Juan. The gate of San Justo 
was located at the foot of the street of the same name 
and formed the entrance to the city from the Marina. 
The gate of Santiago, situated near Fort San Cristobal, 
formed the eastern entrance to the city and was also 
called Puerto, de Tierra. 

27. English, French, Dutch and Portuguese pi- 
rates, known as buccaneers, had settled in Tortuga, a 
small island north of Haiti, uniting to form a base of 
operations there, and from this place they went out upon 
their depredations, attacking the Spanish ships and col- 
onies and carrying away their treasure. During the 
four years from 1637 to 1641, they captured the ships 
bringing the annuity funds to Porto Rico from Mexico, 
amounting to 400,000 pesos. These losses and the de- 
struction wrought by a cyclone in 1641, caused great 
suffering on the island. 

28. In 1672 the king of France entered upon a 
war with the Netherlands, as the Dutch had provoked. 

18 



him by ridiculing him and interfering with certain of his 
plans concerning the low countries. The French and 
Dutch colonies in the West Indies took up the quarrel 
among themselves and the French governor of Marti- 
nique in 1673 asked the other French colonies to join him 
in an attack upon the Dutch island of Curacao. The 
French had already settled in the western part of Santo 
Domingo, now known as Haiti, and the governor of this 
colony equipped a ship and sent it on its way to Mar- 
tinique to join the French forces there. When passing 
the town of Arecibo it was blown on shore in a storm 
and broken to pieces by the waves. Many of the 
Frenchmen were drowned but 460 of them reached 
shore, and the Spaniards kept them in huts in the fields 
near Arecibo. The French governor of the island of 
Martinique demanded the release of these men, but Cap- 
tain General Arteaga of Porto Rico refused to let them 
go, and moreover claimed the sum of $3,000 to cover 
the expense of keeping the Frenchmen, as the Spaniards 
had not been able to find anything of value in the wreck 
of the ship. The French sent ships to Porto Rico to 
get the men and a party disembarked at Aguada but 
was defeated by the Spaniards. When the French pris- 
oners learned that their countrymen had sent vessels to 
their relief, many of them fled from Arecibo, secured 
canoes and so reached the ships. The Spaniards found 
40 of them still near Arecibo and they were killed by 



19 



order of General Arteaga. The remainder, numbering 
130, were captured later in the country and sent to Ha- 
vana in 1674 to labor on the Spanish forts there. 

29. In 1657 another cyclone swept over the island. 

30. Philip IV of Spain died in 1665 and his son 
Charles II was crowned king. Charles died -in 1700 
and, as he had no children, he left his crown to a French 
prince who became Philip V. This alliance of France 
and Spain caused a quarrel among the nations of Eu- 
rope. This quarrel grew into a war which lasted thir- 
teen years, Spain and France, together fighting England, 
Germany and the Netherlands. The outcome of this 
war was that Philip V was allowed to remain king of 
Spain, but many of his possessions were taken away 
from him. During this war the English and Dutch in 
the West Indies made repeated attacks on the Spanish 
colonies. Porto Rico was attacked many times by the 
English and Dutch who had settled in St. Thomas, a 
small island which had been captured in 1671 by the 
Danes. In 1702 two English ships anchored in the har- 
bor of Arecibo and sent ashore forty men armed with 
guns. The Spaniards, who were commanded by An- 
tonio Correa, had only spears and machetes for weapons, 
but they defeated the English, killing 32 of them. La- 
ter in the same year the English attacked the town of 
Loiza but were again defeated. In 1703 the Dutch at- 
tempted to land at the port of Guayanilla, but the Span- 



20 



iards drove them back to their ships and they sailed 
away. The Dutch and English united in their attacks 
upon Spanish vessels in West Indian waters, and the 
Spaniards in Porto Rico organized several expeditions 
against the enemy. Among those who distinguished 
themselves in these expeditions was Miguel Henriquez, 
a mulatto and a shoe-maker by trade, who was so suc- 
cessful that Spain gave him the title of Sea Captain and 
decorated him with the Royal 'Image medal in 1713. 

31. The English settled in the little island of Vie- 
ques and built a fort there, but in 17 18 the Spaniards, 
accompanied by Henriquez, attacked the colony, de- 
stroyed the settlement and the fort, and took all the in- 
habitants to Porto Rico as captives. Some years later, 
other Englishmen settled in Vieques but were driven 
away by the Spaniards in 1752. 



CHAPTER III. 

Development of Country — Contraband Trade — Military Govern- 
ment. 

32. On his second voyage, Columbus carried sugar 
cane to Santo Domingo from the Canary Islands. It 
was brought to Porto Rico later, and in 1533 there were 
three sugar mills on the island. In 1570 the annual pro- 
duction of sugar amounted to 250 tons. During the 
sixteenth century, goats, pigs, horses, cows and oxen 



21 



were brought into the island. The cocoanut palm was 
brought to Porto Rico from Africa in 1549. 

33. In 1579 the village of Coamo, at first called 
San Bias de Illescas, was founded. In 1600 there were 
four towns in Porto Rico; they were San Juan, San 
German, Arecibo and Coamo. There were about 200 
families in San Juan, 100 in San German 30 in Arecibo 
and about the same number in Coamo. In 1692 the 
towns of Arecibo, Aguada, Ponce, Coamo and Loiza 
were constituted as corporations like San German, and 
mayors were appointed. The Captain General, or mili- 
tary governor, had authority over all the other" officials 
of the island. In the municipality of San Juan the vil- 
lages of Bayamon and Toa Alta were formed; Anasco 
and Hormigueros in that of San German; Manati in 
that of Arecibo; Guayama in that of Coamo; and Fa- 
jardo in that of Loiza. In 1673, San Juan contained 
1800 inhabitants, of which number 667 were slaves. In 
1739 the village of Utuado was built. 

34. On account of the hostility of the Dutch and 
English ships in the West Indies and the frequent cap- 
ture by them of the money sent to Porto Rico from 
Mexico, General <Haro in 1632 sent his stepson, Luis de 
Castro, to Vera Cruz to collect the annuity funds and 
arrange for their safe and regular transmission to Porto 
Rico. When Castro arrived in Mexico he received the 
usual sum and $30,000 more which had been appropri- 



22 



ated for the benefit of manufactures in the island, and 
stealing the whole amount, placed lead in the boxes in- 
stead of the gold, and fled. His bondsmen were held 
responsible and obliged to pay the sum stolen, and Gen- 
eral Haro was made a prisoner in his own house by or- 
der of the Spanish government. These events caused 
the death of both the Captain General and his wife. 

35. As the Spanish ships were often delayed or 
captured, the Porto Ricans could not engage in com- 
merce and the condition of the people became critical. 
Some of the merchants began to trade secretly with oth- 
ers in Jamaica, exchanging newly imported negroes, 
linen goods and other merchandise for hogs, calves, ci- 
gars, gin and hides. This secret trading began about 
1660 and was carried on principally in the ports of Cabo 
Rojo and Ponce, the latter having been founded in 1650. 
This business gradually extended until it became gen- 
eral, and even the governor, other royal officials and 
some of the priests were engaged in it. By the terms 
of an old agreement between England and Spain con- 
cerning commerce, Philip V gave the English permission 
to sell as slaves in the ports of the Spanish West Indies, 
the negroes they brought from Africa. But Spain did 
not allow the people of her possessions to trade with 
foreigners; they could export their products and import 
goods from other countries only in Spanish ships. 
Nevertheless Captain General Abadia established five 



23 



stores in San Juan and by means of the English slave- 
trading ships, carried on an extensive trade with neigh- 
boring islands for eleven years, until his death in 1743. 
The slave trade with Guinea was continued. The ne- 
groes imported brought with them the disease of small- 
pox in 1689 and within six months this plague caused 
the death of more than 700 persons in the towns alone. 
The secret trading continued to grow and about 1765 
goods to the value of 320,000 pesos were smuggled into 
the island every year. 

36. In 1700 the military force of Porto Rico con- 
sisted of 1,000 men, in the cavalry and infantry. The 
Fortaleza in San Juan had been rebuilt in 1642, after 
partial destruction by the Dutch. In 1655 ^ Q island of 
Jamaica was taken from the Spaniards by the English 
and in 1671 the Danes took the island of St. Thomas. 

37. Philip Y died in 1^46 and his son Ferdinand 
VI, became king. In 1751 he sent Felipe Ramirez de 
Estenos to Porto Rico as Captain General. Ramirez in- 
troduced the coffee plant into the island in 1755 and 
fifteen years later there were sent to Spain twenty-two 
boxes of coffee grown near Coamo, Guayama and Ponce. 

38. Upon the death of Ferdinand in 1759, his 
brother Charles III, became king of Spain. In 1765 
he sent Field Marshal Alejandro O'Reilly to Porto Rico 
to investigate the condition of the island and to make a 
report of his findings. O'Reilly found twenty villages 

24 



besides San Juan and San German, and 45,000 inhab- 
itants of which number 5,000 were slaves. Very few 
could read. He reorganized the military forces of the 
island and urged the strengthening of the fortifications. 
So King Charles sent Tomas O'Daly to superintend 
the work on the forts and walls and allowed an appro- 
priation of $150,000 per year from the treasury in Mex- 
ico, to pay for the labor. In 1776 Morro Castle was 
completed and walls were built as far as the fortified 
bridge of San Antonio. The amount spent on the forti- 
fications of, San Juan from 1766 to 1816 was nearly 
four million pesos ; the total cost must have been greatly 
in excess of this sum. In 1765 Spain sent a regiment of 
soldiers to garrison the forts and 445 convicts to work 
on the fortifications. Five years later, more convicts 
were sent to labor on the public works. 

39. In 1778 Arecibo, Aguada and Coamo were 
granted municipal councils or ayuntamientos. The vil- 
lage of Utuado was in the municipality of Arecibo; 
Rincon, Pepino, Moca and Aguadilla in that of Aguada ; 
and Ponce, Guayama and Cayey in that of Coamo. 

40. In 1776 Charles III of Spain ordered that all 
vessels belonging to Americans be admitted to the ports 
of the Spanish possessions and accorded the same rights 
as those of other friendly nations. This was the year 
that the Americans declared themselves independent of 
the government of England. In 1777 two American 



25 



vessels entered the harbor of Mayagiiez, pursued by an 
"English frigate or warship. The latter ordered the 
Americans to surrender, but the Porto Ricans helped 
them and displayed the Spanish flag on their ships. 
The English protested but left soon afterwards. 

41. The descendants of Ponce de Leon had occu- 
pied Casa Blanca in San Juan, as a residence for a great 
many years, but they were obliged to leave the build- 
ing in 1779, and the insular government used it for of- 
fices and shops for the military engineers. A few years 
later it was destroyed by fire and in 1826 the present 
building was erected. 

42. In 1746 Spain annulled the titles to farming 
lands issued in Porto Rico since 16 18, on account of the 
occupation by the people of about 200 cattle ranges 
which belonged ta the crown. This act affected 5,500 
small farms previously allotted to the people and held by 
them for a long time as hereditary possessions. In 1759 
the matter was finally adjusted, the ownership of the 
lands was settled in favor of the people and taxes were 
arranged. 

43. Since 1550 smooth-edged coins, called macu- 
quina money, had been used in the island, but in 1772 
this money was collected by order of the king, and new 
coins bearing the bust of Charles III, were substituted. 
In 181 3 macuquina money was brought from Venezuela 
and circulated in the island until 1857. Several other 

26 



changes were made before United States money was in- 
troduced in 1899. 

44. A new military and colonial administration 
was inaugurated in the island in 1774, a paymaster and 
a treasurer being appointed in connection with the Cap- 
tain General. In 1758 the office of Secretary had been 

"created. The Custom House was established on the 
Marina, outside the walls of San Juan. In 1765 the 
total insular revenue amounted to $10,800; in 1780 to 
$179,000. In 1770 cock-fighting had become general 
over the island; the pits were taxed $6 per month, and 
in 1788 the total revenue from this source amounted 
to $1,731. After 1780 playing cards were sold exclu- 
sively by the government. In 1778 the annuity from 
the treasury in Mexico amounted to almost $500,000, 
but shipments could not be made at that time as Spain 
was at war with England, and there was danger of the 
money falling into the hands of the English; so paper 
money was issued in the island. The issue amounted in 
value to more than one million pesos, the bills represent- 
ing from 12 cents to four pesos. 

45. The marking of slaves with hot irons was pro- 
hibited in 1784. A cyclone destroyed a great deal of 
property in 1785 and two years later an earthquake 
damaged parts of the walls of San Juan and the fort of 
San Geronimo. Captain General Juan Daban instituted 
the first mail service on the island in 1785, the cavalry 



27 



soldiers serving as carriers. In 1787 there were 103,000 
inhabitants in the island, of which number 11,000 were 
slaves and 2,000 were Indians. 

46. In 1807 the art of printing was introduced 
into Porto Rico by Captain General Toribio Montes, 
who secured a small press and published La Gaceta de 
Puerto Rico. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Effects of Spanish Wars — Struggle for Liberal Government. 

47. Charles III died in 1788 and was succeeded 
by his son Charles IV. Five years later Spain was at 
war with France. The French captured several cities of 
the peninsula and to recover these, Spain ceded to 
France her territory in the island of Santo Domingo. 

48. In 1796 Spain was at war with England. 
The English took the island of Trinidad from the Span- 
iards in 1797 and in the same year a fleet of 60 vessels, 
under Sir Henry Harvey, attacked Porto Rico. The 
English landed near Santurce and for two weeks there 
was fighting on the bridges of Martin Pena and San 
Antonio. Ramon de Castro was Captain General of 
Porto Rico at that time. The English withdrew with- 
out having accomplished anything. Later in the same 
year four English ships attacked Aguadilla, and in 1799 
the town of Cabo Rojo was assailed. In 1800 and again 
in 1 80 1 the town of Ponce was attacked. The English 

28 



gained practically nothing from these movements. In 
1802 the war came to an end. 

49. In 1803 an epidemic of small-pox broke out 
in the island. General Castro secured vaccine virus 
from St. Thomas on the recommendation of Dr. Fran- 
cisco Oiler of San Juan, and 1,500 persons were vacci- 
nated. Spain sent a supply of the virus to the island 
the next year, and upon its arrival at San Juan the 
Spaniard in charge of the shipment was very much dis- 
appointed to find that the people of Porto Rico were 
already familiar with the process of vaccination, as he 
had thought that he would have the honor of introduc- 
ing it into the island. He claimed that the vaccinations 
performed by Dr. Oiler were spurious, but later was 
convinced of their genuineness and finally left the island. 
In 1804 Ramon de Castro's service as Captain General 
ended. 

50. Napoleon Bonaparte, at the head of his 
French armies, marched into Spain in 1808 after having 
dethroned the Spanish king Charles IV and placed his 
own brother Joseph on the throne. But the Spanish 
people would not submit to Napoleon and organized a 
provisional government at the head of which was the 
Cortes, the legislative bodies of the peninsula, which or- 
dered all French people to leave the Spanish possessions. 
Most of the French people in Porto Rico left here at 
once. The following year the Porto Ricans, led by 



29 



Ramon Power who had been commissioned by Captain 
General Montes, the Dominicans and some Englishmen 
from Jamaica united their forces and took Santo Do- 
mingo from the French, re-establishing Spanish sov- 
ereignty over that island. 

51. In 1809 the Cortes, in accordance with the 
provisions of the Constitution of 1808, allowed Porto 
Rico to send a representative to Spain for the first time, 
and Ramon Power was selected for this position. In 
1 81 3 the first legislative assembly of Porto Rico met, 
as provided for by the Spanish Constitution of 181 2 
which had been framed by the Cortes. In 181 5 Porto 
Rico was allowed to trade with the United States, but 
the commerce was to be carried on in Spanish ships only. 
Cyclones swept over the island in 181 6 and again in 
1819. 

52. The administration of the public funds of 
Porto Rico had, for a number of years, been attended to 
by officials under the immediate supervision of the Cap- 
tain General, but in 181 1 the Spanish Cortes, through 
the efforts of the island's representative, Ramon Power, 
relieved the military governor of this work and ap- 
pointed Alejandro Ramirez to take charge of the island's 
finances. The Cortes also directed that an association 
to be called the Economic Society of Friends of the 
Country be formed in Porto Rico for the purpose of de- 
veloping the trade, industries and agriculture of the 

30 



island. This society rendered valuable service to Porto 
Rico for many years and contributed largely to the 
island's progress during the nineteenth century. 

53. In 1 8 14 Ferdinand VII, son of Charles IV, 
drove Joseph Bonaparte out of Spain, seated himself 
upon the throne, rejected the Constitution of 181 2 and 
annulled the acts of the Cortes. Porto Rico shared the 
consequences of this movement with the other Spanish 
possessions and was denied the advantages which had so 
recently been granted to her by the Cortes. 

54. As the annuity funds from the treasury in 
Mexico had not reached the island for several years, 
paper money was issued in 181 5. This paper money 
became almost worthless. A revolution led by Simon 
Bolivar was being conducted in Venezuela, Colombia and 
Ecuador against Spain, and as the Spaniards there were 
threatened with death, many of them came to Porto 
Rico, at the invitation of Alejandro Ramirez. They in- 
vested their money here and the condition of the island 
improved to such an extent that the $500,000 issue of 
paper money was soon cancelled. 

55. In 1820 a revolution occurred in Spain and 
the Constitution of 1812 was again proclaimed. Under 
this constitution, 45 town councils, a delegate to the in- 
sular assembly from each district and a delegate to the 
Cortes were elected in Porto Rico. Six lawyers were 
also elected to positions on the bench. There was great 
rejoicing over these elections. 



31 



56. Up to this time, the few schools in existence 
on the island had been conducted by the priests. Cap- 
tain General Salvador Melendez tried to establish a sys- 
tem of public instruction in 1812, but his efforts did not 
meet with success. 

57. In 1 819 the people of Colombia, Venezuela 
and Ecuador declared themselves independent of the 
government of Spain, as their armies, led by Simon 
Bolivar, had been successful in the war with the Span- 
iards. In 1 82 1 the Mexicans under Agustin Iturbide, 
after a long war lasting eleven years, declared them- 
selves independent. The same year Santo Domingo 
again proclaimed her independence of the Spanish gov- 
ernment. In 1822 Miguel de la Torre, the Spanish gen- 
eral whom Simon Bolivar had defeated in Venezuela, 
was appointed Captain General of Porto Rico. 

58. The success of the revolutions in South Amer- 
ica and Mexico led a Swiss adventurer named Holstein 
in 1822 to plan an uprising of the negroes in Porto Rico 
against the white inhabitants, by which he hoped to 
found a republic here. The slaves, however, were not 
to be granted liberty. Pedro Duboy, a French negro 
who lived near Naguabo, was Holstein's agent in Porto 
Rico and in his efforts to promote the interests of the 
rebellion, he confided in a Frenchman of Fajardo who 
immediately informed the mayor of the town and Duboy 
was arrested and placed in prison. Holstein intended 



32 



to invade the island at Afiasco and according to the 
plans, nothing was to be done here until his arrival, but 
some negroes belonging to plantations near Guayama 
started the rebellion prematurely and the Captain Gen- 
eral hurried to the spot with soldiers and the leaders of 
the movement there were shot in the presence of all the 
slaves. Duboy was found guilty and executed later. 
Holstein with two ships reached Curacao where his ves- 
sels were searched and he was obliged to abandon the en- 
terprise. In 1825 there occurred in Ponce a revolt on 
the part of the negroes, but the rebellion was crushed by 
the execution of all its leaders. 

59. The West Indian waters were still infested 
with pirates who captured merchant ships and made 
commerce an uncertain undertaking. In 1823 the 
United States sent a fleet of 15 vessels under Commo- 
dore David Porter to the West Indies to drive the pirates 
from the seas. One of the vessels of this fleet was a 
steamer, the first one seen here. When the ships came 
to San Juan the Captain General was away and the 
Americans were refused admission to the harbor. One 
of the ships nevertheless, attempted to enter and was 
fired upon by Morro Castle and her commander was 
killed. Explanations were made, Commodore Porter 
exonerated the Spaniards and the incident was closed. 
The fleet was successful in its fight against the pirates, 
but a number of them continued to disturb the commerce 



33 



of Porto Rico and neighboring islands, and in 1824 an 
American schooner, in search of pirates, entered the har- 
bor of Fajardo. The vessel was detained by the offi- 
cials of the town, and angered by their act, Commodore 
Porter went to Fajardo, spiked the guns of the shore 
battery and demanded satisfaction from the town au- 
thorities. This incident led to a more careful watch of 
the coast and a few months later the noted Porto Rican 
pirate Robert Cofresi and his sloop were captured near 
Guayama with the aid of the officers and men from an 
American schooner. Cofresi and ten companions were 
executed. The Portuguese pirate Almeida was captured 
in 1827 and brought to this island but was not executed 
until 1832. 

60. In 1823 Ferdinand VII, aided by the French, 
recovered the Spanish throne ; the constitution was again 
annulled and absolute power was re-established. Ac- 
cordingly, Captain General La Torre dissolved the leg- 
islative assembly of Porto Rico, stopped the publication 
of the official newspaper, suppressed the town councils 
and placed the government of the island again in the 
hands of the military officials. 

61. In 1828 the imports of the island amounted 
in value to $2,039,928; the exports to $2,590,726; and 
the number of inhabitants was 221,000, the slaves num- 
bering 22,000. In 1835 the imports amounted to $3,- 
914,116; the exports to $3,949*534 \ and the number of 

34 



inhabitants was 359,000, there being 42,000 slaves. 

62. Because of the success of the revolutions in 
South America, Mexico and Santo Domingo, General 
La Torre feared a similar movement in Porto Rico, and 
to distract the thoughts of the people from such mat- 
ters, he arranged for them a continual round of pleasure 
and festivity. Cock-fighting, horse-racing, dancing, 
roulette playing and games of dice and cards were in- 
dulged in to excess day and night, and liquor was con- 
sumed in large quantities. Those who protested against 
these proceedings gave to this period of license, the name 
of the Government of the Three B's — baile, botella and 
baraja. 

63. In 1825 the island again suffered from the ef- 
fects of a cyclone. 

64. Spain and the Captains General of the island 
neglected public education. Rafael Cordero, a negro 
cigar-maker of San Juan, gave children free instruction 
in his shop at 98 Luna street. His example was fol- 
lowed by others in many parts of the island. In 1832 
the Theological Seminary, now Colegio de San Pablo, 
was installed in the building erected for this institution 
in San Juan the same year, and was conducted by the 
Catholic Church. 

65. Ferdinand VII died in 1833-and his daughter 
Isabella II became queen of Spain. In 1836 an insur- 
rection in Spain obliged the queen to rule according to 



35 



the Constitution of 1812 and in the following year La 
Torre's service as Captain General of Porto Rico ended. 
In the same year, 1837, the Cortes framed a new consti- 
tution for the monarchy, one of the articles of which 
provided that the Spanish possessions should be gov- 
erned by special laws, but no special laws were made 
for the benefit of Porto Rico until nearly half a century 
had passed. The Captain General continued to exercise 
absolute power, as the delegate of the king, but the 
island in its entirety would not submit quietly to this 
arbitrary rule, and several citizens entered into a con- 
spiracy against the government in 1838. The plot was 
discovered, one of the conspirators committed suicide 
and ten others were executed. 

66. Captain General Lopez Banos, after crushing 
this conspiracy, issued a " Proclamation of Good Gov- 
ernment," this being a collection of the regulations con- 
cerning the town and rural police, in which he declared 
that any man or woman who had no profession or was 
not an owner of property, was to be considered a day- 
laborer and obliged to enter the service of some em- 
ployer. The names of these laborers were registered 
in the city hall of the municipality in which they worked, 
and a close watch was kept upon them. Later the farm 
laborers were required to carry note-books in which their 
employers entered the date of arrival, the number of 
days employed and the date of withdrawal from serv- 

36 



ice. They were not allowed to leave a farm or planta- 
tion until they had paid all their debts. The employers 
entered false records in these note-books and the labor- 
ers suffered accordingly during many years. 

6y. In 1847 Juan Prim became Captain General 
of Porto Rico. The following year there occurred an 
insurrection of negro slaves in the island of Santa Cruz, 
and Prim, fearing a similar uprising in Porto Rico, or- 
dered that slaves committing any offense whatsoever 
should be tried by a court of military officers, and au- 
thorized the planters to kill their slaves in the event of 
their rebellion. This was called the Black Law. A 
few slaves were shot in Ponce and in Vega Baja, but 
the law was abolished a few months later. When the 
owners wished to punish their slaves, they would beat 
them or whip them, and some of the negroes died as a 
result of this treatment. 

68. Prim was Captain General only seven months. 
Shortly after his arrival at San Juan, he visited the peni- 
tentiary where he found a white man from Cabo Rojo, 
heavily laden with chains, who was commonly called the 
Eagle. He had been sent to prison for having stolen 
some cattle. Prim liberated him on his promise of good 
behavior, declaring that he would have him shot if he 
ever attempted to deceive him. The man promised to 
remain in San Juan. A little later, Prim visited Cabo 
Rojo on a trip around the island, and while there it was 

37 



rumored that the Eagle had returned to his home. The 
following morning the governor's favorite horse was 
missing. The animal was found later. The Eagle was 
captured in the neighborhood and Prim had him exe- 
cuted. The court at the capital protested against this 
action and finally appealed to the sovereign, who shortly 
after removed Prim and appointed Juan de la Pezuela as 
Captain General. Captain General Pezuela was not pop- 
ular because he prohibited horse-racing, attacked the cus- 
toms of the people and restricted the press. 

69. In 1 84 1 the town of Mayagiiez was destroyed 
by fire and Captain General Mendez Vigo closed the port 
of Cabo Rojo for the benefit of the stricken town. The 
same year Mendez Vigo established in San Juan the 
Casa de Beneficencia or asylum for orphans and the in- 
sane. In 1855 the people suffered from an epidemic of 
cholera and small-pox which caused the death of 30,000 
persons, of which number 10,000 were slaves. 

70. In 1850 the island was divided into seven dis- 
tricts: Bayamon, Humacao, Guayama, Ponce, Arecibo, 
Mayagiiez and Aguadilla, the island of Vieques belong- 
ing to the district of Humacao. The same year a sys- 
tem of public instruction was organized. 



38 



CHAPTER V. 

Slavery Question — Insurrections Against Spanish Government 
— Political Organization. 

71. Civil war broke out in the United States in 
1 86 1 on account of slavery, and the slaves there were 
declared free by President Lincoln in 1863. These 
events caused Segundo Ruiz Belvis of Hormigueros, and 
Dr. Emeterio Betances of Cabo Rojo, to urge the grant- 
ing of freedom to the slaves in Porto Rico. 

J2. The republican government in Santo Domingo 
gave way to Spanish dominion again in 1861. Four 
years of fighting followed, during which the Porto 
Ricans supported the cause of Spain in that island. In 
1865 Spain withdrew from Santo Domingo and the re- 
publican government was re-established there. 

73. In 1865, at the request of the Spanish gov- 
ernment, the Porto Ricans sent Jose Julian Acosta, Se- 
gundo Ruiz Belvis, Francisco Mariano Quihones and 
Manuel F. Zeno to Madrid to furnish information in 
regard to the special laws promised in 1837. The great 
need of reform was urged and the first three declared 
that the abolition of slavery ought to be the first reform 
granted to Porto Rico. The commissioners returned 
home and nothing came of their labor. Roman Bal- 
dorioty de Castro was associated with Jose Julian Acosta 
in his efforts to secure the freedom of the slaves. 



39 



74- Shortly after the return of the commission- 
ers in 1867, when the feeling of the Porto Ricans to- 
ward Spain was very bitter, a mutiny occurred in the 
army here; the Spaniards seized upon this occurrence 
as affording an excuse for banishing the Porto Rican 
leaders and Dr. Betances, Ruiz Belvis, Dr. Pedro Ge- 
ronimo Goico, Dr. Calixto Romero, Jose de Celis 
Aguilera, Vicente Rufino de Goenaga and Julian E. 
Blanco were arbitrarily ordered to Spain by Captain 
General Marchesi. The Black Law was restored for a 
time and the negro slaves suffered severely. Dr. Be- 
tances and Ruiz Belvis escaped to the United States and 
while there published a letter in a newspaper of New 
York City, declaring that they considered it useless to 
spend time and money in the hope of getting good gov- 
ernment from Spain. Ruiz Belvis went to Chile and 
died there. Dr. Betances went to Santo Domingo and 
tried to secure assistance in carrying out a plan he had 
formed to free Porto Rico from Spanish rule. Secret 
societies were organized in Porto Rico to further the 
scheme. Marchesi was succeeded as Captain General 
by Julian Pavia and in 1868 Spain ordered the banished 
Porto Ricans to return home. N 

75. The cyclone of " San Narciso " swept over the 
island in 1867. 

76. In 1868 there occurred in the town of Lares 
an insurrection fomented by the secret societies that were 



40 



planning a revolution. About one thousand Porto 
Ricans gathered and the independence of Porto Rico 
was proclaimed. From Lares the people marched to 
the town of Pepino, where they were met by a military 
force from Aguadilla. At sight of the soldiers the peo- 
ple fled but many of them were captured and made pris- 
oners. Seven of the leaders in the movement were 
condemned to death but the sentence was not executed. 
Of those imprisoned, 79 died of yellow fever. The lead- 
ers and those who survived the epidemic were liberated 
later. 

yy. Isabella II was a wicked woman and her gov- 
ernment was very corrupt, so the Spaniards became dis- 
gusted and in 1868 she was dethroned and obliged to 
leave the peninsula. The new government promised to 
give Porto Rico the benefit of the liberty proclaimed. 
The revolutionary movement in the island was weak- 
ened on this account, but Dr. Betances still cherished the 
hope of making the island independent of Spain. In the 
same year the insurrection in Cuba began. 

78. In 1869 Captain General Jose Laureano Sanz 
established the first telegraph in Porto Rico, and also 
the body of police known as the Gnardia Civil. Sanz 
was succeeded as Captain General by Gabriel Baldrich 
who, in 1870, declared free all slaves over sixty and 
under two years of age. He also abolished the lash, 
the stocks and all forms of corporal punishment of the 



41 



slaves. This was done in pursuance of an order from 
the Spanish government, the Cortes having passed a law 
providing for these reforms. The text of this law was 
prepared by Roman Baldorioty who, at that time, was a 
delegate to the Cortes from Porto Rico. 

79. After Queen Isabella was banished from 
Spain, Amadeo, a son of the king of Italy, was crowned 
at Madrid, 1870, but the revolutionary spirit was so 
active in the peninsula that he was forced to resign 
the crown in 1873, and a republican form of govern- 
ment was established. On March 22 of that year the 
legislative bodies of the peninsula passed an act abol- 
ishing slavery in Porto Rico, and authorized the nego- 
tiation of a loan of $8,000,000 with which the slave 
owners were reimbursed. By this act 34,000 slaves 
were set free. At that time Juan Martinez Plowes was 
Captain General of the island. The condition of the 
island improved after the emancipation of the slaves, 
as will be seen by comparing the value of the exports 
for a few years prior to and following 1873 — 1864, 
$4,965,382; 1869, $6,535,352; 1874, $7,111,636; 1879, 
$10,946,268. 

80. In 1873, under authority of an act to provide 
public instruction, a school known as the Institute Civil, 
was established in San Juan. Jose Julian Acosta was 
appointed as principal of the institution. 

81. In 1874 the Spanish republic came to an end 



42 



and a provisional government was organized; the Porte 
Rican legislative assembly and town councils were dis- 
solved, the Instituto Civil was closed and the militia 
was abolished. Later in the same year Alfonso XII, 
son of Isabella II, was crowned king, and the assembly, 
town councils and the Instituto Civil of Porto Rico were 
restored. Two years later, the Ateneo, a society de- 
voted to the discussion of literary and scientific sub- 
jects, was founded in San Juan. In 1880 Captain Gen- 
eral Despujol organized a system of public schools; the 
number of schools reached 432 and the enrollment 15,- 
318 pupils. In 1870 an English company laid a cable 
connecting the island with the outside world. 

82. In 1887 a political party led by Baldorioty 
de Castro, held a convention in Ponce, and while recog- 
nizing Spain's authority over the island, claimed for 
the Porto Ricans the right to regulate the affairs that 
concerned the island alone, such as the preparation of 
the budget and the election of municipal officers and of 
delegates to the legislative assembly of the island. In 
other words, the convention demanded autonomy. Some 
young men formed a secret society for the purpose of 
injuring the business interests of the Spaniards on the 
island; Captain General Romualdo Palacio charged the 
members of the autonomist party with conspiracy in this 
movement and the Guardia Civil was employed to sur- 
prise them in their homes at night, take them to lonely 



43 



places and whip and torture them for the purpose of 
forcing confession or securing information that would 
implicate others. 

8$' In 1 89 1 the members of the autonomist party 
again convened. Baldorioty de Castro was dead and 
the leadership was undertaken by others. Five years 
later the party became divided, Luis Mufioz Rivera and 
his followers favoring a union with the liberal party 
among the Spaniards, and Jose C. Barbosa, Manuel F. 
Rossy and Luis Sanchez Morales adhering to the old 
plan of self-government. 

84. The carretera central or military road, from 
San Juan to Ponce, is one of the chief public works 
completed by the Spaniards. In 1521 the San Antonio 
bridge on this road near San Juan, was first built. The 
road from San Juan to Rio Piedras was completed in 
1773. It was extended to Caguas in 1812, to Cayey 
in 1874 and to Ponce in 1888. The carretera from 
Cayey to Guayama was begun in 1888 and finished in 
1898; that from Arecibo to Ponce was begun in 1881 
and finished by the Americans in 1903. Several other 
carreteras in different parts of the island are now in 
use. The Americans found here 159 miles of road in 
1898, the construction having cost $21,287 P er mile. 

85. The steam railroad of the island was con- 
structed by a company organized by French, Spanish 
and Porto Rican capitalists who had secured a conces- 



44 



sion from the Spanish government. The greater part 
of the company's stock was owned by Frenchmen. The 
railroad was opened to traffic in 1891 between San Juan 
and Camuy; Aguadilla and Mayagiiez; Yauco and 
Ponce; and Martin Pena and Carolina. In 1901 the 
company was reorganized under the name of the Amer- 
ican Railroad Company of Porto Rico, a new conces- 
sion having been granted by the Executive Council. 
Two years later the line was extended from Mayagiiez 
to Yauco and in 1906 the towns of Camuy and Agua- 
dilla were connected, making the railroad continuous 
from San Juan to Ponce. 

86. In 1897 the insurrection in Cuba still con- 
tinued. Weyler, the Spanish general there, was very 
cruel to the Cubans and the attention of the United 
States was drawn to Spain's government in that island. 

8y. The city walls of San Juan between Fort San 
Cristobal and San Justo street, were torn down in 1897, 
with the gate of Santiago at the eastern entrance to the 
city. 

88. During the nineteenth century Spain suffered 
many changes in government, six different constitutions 
being in force within that period. These constitutions 
were known according to the years in which they were 
adopted — 1808, 1812, 1837, 1845, 1S69 and 1876. 
That of 1869 provided for a liberal government, and 
although Porto Rico was granted adequate representa- 

45 



tion in the Cortes, the island was still dominated by the 
officials appointed by the king. Until 1872 the Spanish 
power was absolute, but in that year sixteen delegates 
and four senators, elected by the people, were sent to 
Madrid as representatives of Porto Rico in the Cortes. 
Only those who were able to read and write or who 
paid a tax of eight dollars could vote in these elections, 
and on that account the number of voters was small. 
The island continued to send delegates and senators to 
the Cortes, but the great majority of these representa- 
tives were members of the conservative or Spanish 
party. The people claimed that the elections were not 
honest and that their candidates could never be elected 
while the Spaniards were in power, so very few Porto 
Ricans voted and the government continued practically 
the same as in former times. The administration of 
affairs in the island was in the hands of the Captain 
General, a Secretary, a Board of Authorities composed 
of eight officials, an Administrative Council of twelve 
members of whom eight were the officials constituting 
the Board of Authorities, and a House of Delegates of 
twelve members. The Captain General had the power 
to appoint all the mayors and many of the judges and 
insular officials of lower grade. 

89. On November 28, 1897, Spain granted auton- 
omy to Porto Rico in the form of an assembly of dis- 
trict representatives and an administrative council, un- 

46 



der the governor and a cabinet of five secretaries, and 
there was to be the same number of delegates and sena- 
tors in the Cortes from the island as had been allowed 
since 1872. Early in 1898 Manuel Macias was ap- 
pointed governor and the cabinet was constituted as 
follows : Luis Mufioz Rivera, Manuel Fernandez Jun- 
cos, Juan Hernandez Lopez, Manuel F. Rossy and Jose 
Severo Quinones. A few months later two of these 
secretaries retired from the cabinet as they differed po- 
litically from the government then in power. In March 
the members of the assembly and of the council were 
elected. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Spanish-American War — New Sovereignty Over Island. , 

90. In April, 1898, the United States declared 
war on Spain on account of her treatment of the Cubans. 
At that time Alfonso XIII, a boy twelve years of age, 
was king of Spain, his father, Alfonso XII, having 
died in 1885. On May 12 ten American warships un- 
der Admiral Sampson bombarded San Juan to test the 
strength of the fortifications and to see if any Spanish 
warships were in the harbor. Morro Castle, the In- 
fantry Barracks, the church of San Jose, the Beneficen- 
cia and other buildings were damaged. The fleet sailed 
away in the evening of the same day. 

91. Spain had two small cruisers and a gun-boat 



47 



in Porto Rican waters, and to these was added a de- 
stroyer from Admiral Cervera's fleet. The port of San 
Juan was blockaded by an American cruiser and on June 
22 the Spanish destroyer left the harbor to attack the 
American vessel. One broadside from the latter forced 
the destroyer to return to port. Shortly after, one hun- 
dred boxes of powder were accidentally exploded at 
Miraflores, causing the death of seventeen persons. 

92. On July 17, 1898, the two legislative bodies 
convened in San Juan and on July 25 an American 
army under General Miles landed in Guanica. The peo- 
ple in Yauco welcomed the Americans. Ponce was taken 
three days later, the Spanish forces there retreating to 
Coamo. According to the campaign planned, General 
Brooke was to lead a division of the army to Cayey from 
Arroyo, which had been taken August 2; General Wil- 
son another from Ponce to Coamo; General Schwan 
another from Yauco to Mayagiiez; and General Stone 
another from Ponce to Adjuntas. There was fighting 
near Hormigueros, Mayagiiez, Rio Prieto and Coamo. 

93. On August 12, 1898, peace was declared and 
the war ended, the Spaniards having been defeated in 
Cuba, the Philippine Islands and in Porto Rico within 
four months. Spain ceded Porto Rico and the Philip- 
pine Islands to the United States. The Americans later 
made Cuba a republic. 

94. When General Miles left Porto Rico, General 

48 



Brooke took charge of the island. On October 13, 1898, 
Captain General Macias, the 11 8th governor of Porto 
Rico, returned to Spain and on October 18 the flag 
of the United States was raised on the Fortaleza in San 
Juan, proclaiming American sovereignty over the island. 
On October 23, the Spanish army returned to Spain. 
The cabinet of secretaries resigned, but General Brooke 
asked the members to continue in office. In December 
General Henry succeeded General Brooke. He dissolved 
the cabinet, the assembly and the council, and created 
four departments, State, Justice, Finance and Interior, 
all subject to the military governor. The liberty of the 
press, freedom of religious belief, and the right to hold 
public meetings were established. The lottery and cock- 
fighting were prohibited. Labor was regulated, the 
working day being fixed at eight hours. The judicial 
system was reorganized. Stocks, chains and irons in 
the prisons were abolished. The Insular Police force 
was created. Sanitary regulations were enforced. 
United States money was introduced, the peso being 
exchanged for sixty cents. The annuity paid to the 
Catholic Church from the insular treasury was abolished. 
The census of 1899 showed that there were 953> 2 43 in- 
habitants on the island. A public school system was 
organized and text books and supplies were furnished 
by the government. General Henry was succeeded by 
General Davis on May 18, 1899. 



49 



95- The cyclone of " San Ciriaco," accompanied by 
a very heavy fall of rain, devastated parts of the island 
on August 8, 1899. The loss of life was estimated at 
3,500 and the damage to property at 36,000,000 pesos. 
Many coffee plantations were destroyed and this misfor- 
tune increased the misery of the people dependent on 
the coffee crop, which had begun in 1896 with the decline 
of the price of this product. The United States sent 
large quantities of clothing and medicines and 32,455,- 
000 pounds of food supplies for the relief of the suffer- 
ers. These supplies were distributed by the American 
soldiers. Since 15 14 forty-one cyclones have been re- 
ported in Porto Rico, but the actual number of these 
storms must be larger, for between the years 1537 and 
1738, a period of 200 years, only five cyclones were re- 
ported. 

96. On May 1, 1900, the Organic Act creating 
civil government in Porto Rico, took effect. The act 
provided for a Governor and an Executive Council of 
eleven members to be appointed by the President of the 
United States, and a House of Delegates of 35 mem- 
bers and a Commissioner to the United States to be 
elected by the people. The Governor and members of 
the Executive Council are appointed to serve four years 
and the members of the House of Delegates and the 
Commissioner to the United States are elected every 
two years. The officers of all the municipalities are also 



50 



elected every two years; they are the mayor, the mem- 
bers of the municipal council and of the local school 
boards, road supervisors and municipal judges. Six of 
the members of the Executive Council are also heads of 
the six executive departments of the government and 
hold the titles of Secretary, Attorney General, Treasurer, 
Auditor, Commissioner of Education and Commissioner 
of the Interior. The judicial department consists of the 
Supreme Court of five judges appointed by the President 
for four years, the United States District Court of one 
judge appointed by the President for four years, seven 
District Courts of one judge each appointed by the 
Governor and twenty-four Municipal Courts in the larger 
towns, each presided over by one judge elected by the 
people every two years. Justices of the Peace are ap- 
pointed by the Governor to preside over the courts in the 
smaller towns. Free trade between the United States 
and Porto Rico was also established. 

97. Charles H. Allen was the first civil governor. 
William H. Hunt succeeded him on September 15, 1901, 
and Beekman Winthrop succeeded Governor Hunt on 
July 4, 1904. 

98. The figures given in the following table show 
the progress made in public school work since 1880. 



5i 



YEAR. 


NUMBER OF SCHOOLS. 


NUMBER OF PUPILS. 


1880 


43 2 


15,318 


1896 


525 


25,615 


1898 


551 


25,644 


1900 


525 


24,392 


1902 


874 


42,070 


I904 


1,113 


63,556 


I906 


1,134 


68,826 



99. No buildings were erected by the Spaniards 
for school purposes. From 1898 to 1906 the Americans 
built 79 school-houses and developed an excellent system 
of public schools. 

100. The Spanish government here had two police 
organizations, the Guardia Civil, numbering 788 men, 
and the Vigilantes, numbering 244 men. These police 
were directly under the orders of the governor. Besides 
these two bodies, each town had municipal police who 
were controlled directly by the mayor. The entire police 
force of the island was about 2,000 men. The Guardia 
Civil and the Vigilantes were dreaded by the people, as 
they had the power to make arrests without waiting for 
orders from their superiors, and as the inhabitants were 
closely watched, anyone was likely to be thrown into 
jail at any time without knowing what the charge against 
him was. The municipal police organizations have been 
abolished and in 1906 the only police force on the island 



52 



was the organization known as the Insular Police, num- 
bering 770 men. 

101. In time of peace Spain kept in Porto Rico 
a force of 4,000 regular soldiers from the peninsula and 
twelve battalions of militia scattered about the island, 
all under the orders of the governor. The United States 
maintained here in 1906 eight companies of Porto Rican 
soldiers and one company of American marines, the com- 
bined forces numbering 700 men. The little island of 
Culebra was made a naval base in 1901, and a naval 
station was established there in 1904. Two companies 
of American marines, numbering about 100 men, are 
stationed at this place. 



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